Malawi midterm budget to be revised, says Phoya
Finance Minister Dr Ken Lipenga will present to Parliament the revised midterm before the current session ends next week, Leader of the House Henry Phoya told the House on Friday.
Phoya, who is also Minister of Lands and Housing, said changes had to be made to the original mid-term budget presented by Lipenga two weeks ago.
This comes after the withdrawal of the Budget Bill, asking Parliament to approve K68 billion (about $188.9 million) additional spending in the current fiscal year.
The withdraw, according to Lipenga, had been necessitated by the need to rework budget estimates following the dismantling of some votes after giving civil servants a pay rise.
Phoya told the House that the revised mid-term budget statement will capture increased wages for the civil servant .
“The ministry of finance will rework the figures,” said Phoya, adding “ I can assure the house that the budget will go through the committee stage and the vote by vote procedure.”
The midterm budget was presented to the house before civil servants went on strike and eventually agreed a 61 percent pay hike which was not included in the midterm budget.
Phoya’s assuarance comes after opposition lawmakers warned the Joyce Banda administration against spending extra money illegally when Lipenga withdrew his Budget Bill.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
